F104 
.C8 S67 



■/ ^o^-^-*/ V'!f??\.»*-^ ^°^*^-'aO' <»-^^ 
























4 o 

■tt? ^ 



^*^ °^ '.^ 
















°- .*'.>:^-\. ,^°.-ja^<>- ./.-^^'.^ ,^^• 



o • » • ^0 










^•1 Pa -^ 





■\ ^°y^k'''°-^ .-*.v;^.\. .c°'..i^i-> ,/ 


















"^^O^ 









• • s 







11 J^nUXy^^i^ , V- 






^^--^ 












y ^^^'^^\/ "o^^^"/ ^^,'^^\/ "o^*^^ 



o > 



4 o 






T 



8t)4-] 



INCORPORATED JULY 19, 1905. 



REUNION OF THE SOCIETY OF 



Middletown Upper Houses 



INCORPORATED, 



AND 



n 






Am OF lEIORIA 



J 



TO 



Founders, Fathers and Pastors, 



Wednesday, July 19th, 1905, 



CROMWELL, CONN. 



r-, 



'^ 



Gilt 
10 '06 



Society of Middletown Upper Houses, 

INCORPORATED. 

President, Hon. Frank Langdon Wilcox, Berlin, Conn. 
Vice-President, John Goodhue Ranney, Esq., Syracuse, N. Y. 
Sec.-Treas., Charles Collard Adams, M. A., Cromwell, Conn. 



Cromwell, Conn., August 15, 1905. 
To the Present and Prospective Members, Greeting :■ 

Founders, Fathers, and Pastors Day, Wednesday, July 19, 
1905, was a success, including the thermometer at 93 degrees which 
for a fortnight had been above 80 degrees. The day was cloudless. 
Many had to forego the pleasure of coming. Many who came had to 
remain in the shade. But all who came returned with a report of the 
celebration calculated to maintain the enthusiasm with which the 
occasion was fully charged. 

Our secretary as marshal was mounted. Two four-horse omni- 
buses, one two-horse omnibus, two carriages, two automobiles, and 
other private conveyances contained those who ventured to make the 
tour laid down in the program of June j. 

The business meeting was held at noon in Temple of Honor hall. 
Articles of incorporation were duly signed and sworn to by Milo 
Clinton Treat, Frank Langdon Wilcox, Salvador Otis Ranney, Wil- 
liam Roland White, Charles Henry Stanton and Charles Collard 
Adams. These elected to Charter Membership and Life Membership 
all who had contributed to the Society since its informal incei)iion on 
June 17, 1903. 

The officers named above were then elected. The following 
sums were contributed : 

M. C. Treat, Washington, Penn., . . . . - $60.00 

F. L. Wilcox, Berlin, Conn., - 60.00 

Rev. M. E. Dwight, New York City, . . . . 40.00 

Capt. J. K. Williams, Hartford, Conn., .... 25. CO 

A. S. Hall, Winchester, Mass , ..... 10.00 

W. G. Eells, Philadelphia, Penn., ..... 10.00 

C. H. Stanton, Clinton, New York, - ... - 5.00 

S. O. Ranney, Windsor Locks, Conn., .... 5.00 

Mr. E. E. Abbott, Clinton, N. Y., 5.00 



Total, $220.00 

Mr. Wilcox, Mrs. Lynda Harrison and Mr. Adams were aji- 
pointed a committee with full authority to act in the matter of the 



transfer from Riverside Cemetery of the tombstones of David Sage, 
1703, of Nathaniel White, 1711, and wife, 1690, and their remains if 
any can be found, to the Oomwell Cemetery of 1713 in case the 
Railroad Company takes possession of Middletown's ancient burying 
ground. 

The officers elected were instructed to take action in all matters 
covered by the articles of incorporation, to wit : "To obtain title to 
and to hold the plot of land on which our memorials do and are to 
stand ; to foster the spirit of reverence for our ancestors; to hold re- 
unions of our members and of other descendants of families of Middle- 
town Upper Houses ; and to gather and to disseminate information 
historical, genealogical, and biographical concerning Middletown 
Upper Houses and its families." 

Dinner was served in Briggs Hall, grace being said by the Rev. 
W. F. Rowley, pastor of the Middletown Ha|)tist Church. 

The company at 2:30 repaired to " Stocking Triangle," w^hich 
is bounded north forty-two feet by White Street, west eighty-two 
feet by the great highway connecting Hartford with Middletown 
and New Haven, and on the southeast by land of the Railroad 
Company. This triangle is a part of what was the homestead from 
1650 to his death of Deacon Samuel Stocking and which de- 
scended by inheritance to William Latimer, Esq., of Wilming- 
ton, N. C. He had disposed of it some years ago and on learning 
of our desire to locate our memorials on it promptly paid $40 for 
it and has donated it to our Society. His letter of presentation was 
read by Walter G. Eells, Esq., of Philadelphia and will be printed in 
our volume. It was accepted for us by our jjresident. Prayer was 
offered by the Rev. Edward Eells. The tablet was unveiled by Miss 
Evangeline Eells, three years of age, while held in her father's arms. 
A photograph was then taken. Her younger sister, Miss Abigail, was 
present, but being only two months of age preferred her elder sister 
to have the honor. Miss Eells is descended from the Rev. Edward 
Eells, whose name is inscribed on the tablet which faces the great 
highway between Hartford and Middletown. 

The literary exercises were then held in the Bai^tist Church, as 
follows : 

Prayer, The Rev. D. B. Hubbard 

Address of Welcome, - The I'astor, the Rev. William S. Middlemass 

Response and Address, The President 

Oration, - The Hon. H. B. Brown 

Poem, - - W. R. Walkley, Esq. 

TwoT'ioneers— Nathaniel and Hugh W'hite, - The Secretary 

Recitation, Miss Haltie Hubbard 

Boyhood Reminiscences by a Boy of 85, The Rev. E. H. Ranney 

Greetings from Central New York, - Charles H. Stanton, Esq. 

A Chorus of Praise, The Rev. Edward Eells 

Benediction, The Rev. E. H. Ranney 



A vote of thanks was passed for the use of the church on this 
occasion. The Rev. Samuel Hart, D. D., President of the Connecti- 
cut Historical Society, and the Rev, M. E. Dwight, D. D., President 
of the New York Genealogical Society, compiler of the Kirby Gene- 
alogy, etc., were detained by the weather. Their addresses as prepared 
with all that were delivered will appear in the volume, " Middletown 
Upi^er Houses." During the exercises the batteries of the Upper 
Kegion were sounding their salvos of approval, and in a few minutes 
after the exercises closed at 4:30 the gateway of the Upper Region 
was opened wide and a deluge came to cool the air and revive those 
nearly overcome by the intense heat. In the evening one hundred 
and fifty of our village friends were our guests in Temple of Honor 
hall, and on the following day over forty of our village friends were 
our guests in two steam launches on a trip of eighteen miles down the 
Connecticut river to East Haddam, where, after dining at Hotel Swan 
and being photographed by Mrs. Iva Grover, we visited the Nathan 
Hale School-house, the State's monument to the memory of Major- 
General Joseph Spencer of Revolutionary fame, and saw the bell of 
St. Stephen's Church, cast in the year 815 for a Spanish convent. The 
party included Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Treat, Mr. John G. Ranney, the 
Rev. E. H. Ranney, the Rev. and Mrs. W. S. Middlemass, and the 
Rev. W. F. Rowley. We returned at 5 p. M., and so ended the cele- 
bration of 1905. 

The fifty-foot flag-staff on Stocking Triangle is the gift of Mr. 
Arthur Boardman, deacon of the Baptist Church and a town and 
bank official. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

The descendants of those named on our Memorial tablet and past 
and present residents of Cromwell are entitled to membership in our 
Society. The fee for charter membership is ^i. 00 or more at one's 
will ; for Life membership $10.00 or more at one's will. Life mem- 
bers are entitled to have their portraits inserted in " Middletown 
Ujiper Houses" without charge. There are no annual dues. Special 
contributions have been needed, and will be needed in order to meet 
the outlay. 

By adding to previous contributions a balance sufficient to make 
$10.00 one can become a Life member. The certificate of Life 
membershi|) will contain a view of our completed memorials. 
We urge all who intend to become members to do so before 
January, in order that their full names (avoid initials) and resi- 
dences, but not the amounts contributed, may be given in " Middle- 
town Upper Houses." On January i our Secretary will issue to 
all members of record on that date a financial report of all receipts 
and expenditures from now to said date. Many have signified their 
intentions and we desire them to improve the opportunity. 



8@^It is suggested to present members that they call the attention 
of others of their respective clans to the importance of following their 
example and so relieve our Secretary from further service as a financial 
recruiting officer. (The President and Vice-President are responsi- 
ble for this advice). 

Respectfully submitted, 

Frank Langdon Wilcox, President. 
John Goodhue Ranney, Vice-President. 
Charles Collard Adams, Sec.-Treas. 



MIDDLETOWN UPPER HOUSES. 

Historical, Genealogical, Biographical. 

HISTORY — The history of this settlement from 1650 to 1800 will 
be given as full as the records permit. 

GENEALOGY — The prominent families named on our memorial 
tablet will be treated in separate chapters. Any descendant can 
have his or her line down to the present inserted without charge. 

RANNEY GENEALOGY— The effort to obtain material for a 
full genealogy of the Thomas Ranney family is still in progress, 
and all descendants of Thomas Ranney, direct or indirect, are 
requested to fill out lineage blanks. A blue pencil mark here 

( ) indicates that the recipient is of the Ranney clan and 

has not heeded previous requests. A few have replied that they 
were of some other Ranney ancestry than that of Thomas " Rany," 
the Scotchman. 

fi@° This is the final request for Ranney data, as we mu'«t 
begin to number the names. Avoid use of initials. Give 
name of parent, grand-parent and great-grand-parent of Ranney 
blood, whether male or female, and so save the undersigned the 
labor of repeating the request for it. 

BIOGRAPHY — Do not hesitate to add full biographical sketches 
of yourselves and of your ancestors. 

ILLUSTRATIONS— The book will have over sixty local illus- 
trations taken by Mrs. Iva Grover, and over a hundred portraits. 
The recent interest in this line is very assuring that it will be one 
of the best illustrated works of the kind. 

THE PUBLISHERS— We have made arrangements with a firm 
which produces the finest art works, and this is our guarantee of 
excellence. 




PRICE OF* VOLUME — The volume will contain from 400 to 
500 pages. The edition is limited to 500 numbered copies. As 
we now have 250 orders, the demand from libraries will soon 
exhaust the edition, the publishers having facilities for expediting 
the sale. The price of the volume in cloth before publication is 
;g5.oo ; after publication, if any remain, the price will be $7.00. 
Those wishing half morocco or full morocco binding should give 
notice in due time. 

A WORD PERSONAL — The undersigned has now entered on 

his seventieth year and is anxious 
to hasten the completion of the 
preparation,! and to see the publi- 
cation, of this work. The work 
will pay its expenses, something 
rather unusual in this line. The un- 
dersigned therefore is not obliged 
to ask any one to guarantee against 
any loss. But he is not situated to 
order and promptly pay for all the 
half-tones, 150 at least, and many 
of them full paged ones, all of which must be done and proofs 
put in the copy before it goes into the hands of the printers. He, 
therefore, signifies his desire that any so disposed should now 
send part or full payment for the volume in order that orders 
may now be given for the execution of all plates, and thereby 
hasten the work of preparation for the printer. Two hundred 
and fifty dollars are needed for this purpose. 

The undersigned having taught school here in 1855-56, married 
a Ranney here in i860, and resided here many years, became inter- 
ested cof/ aviore in the work which is finding its development in the 
results which are now a part of our Society's history. He is grateful 
for the many jiersonal expressions of the various speakers at our 
three celebrations and which have come to him in letters from every 
direction. They have recompensed him for any discouragements he 
may have experienced. The Ranneys of England have as their motto 
" ExiTUS Acta Pkobat," "The end justifies the means," with a 
falcon displayed. He is near the end of this work, and with St. Paul 
he has much satisfaction in the reflection. While he greatly desires to 

live to meet you in person at our next celebration in , his 

present desire is to see the volume issued from the press. You will 
hasten the realization of this desire if you weigh well these final words. 

CHARLES COLLARD ADAMS. 



Cromwell, Conn., August, 1905. 




THE HON. FRANK I.ANGDON WILCOX 

Was born in that part of the present town of Berlin which was a part of 
Midclietown Upper Houses. He is descended from five of the founders. 
He is President of Trinity College Alumni, was State Senator, and was 
Chairman of the Connecticut Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Expo- 
sition. He is one of the rising young men of the State for whom higher 
honors are in store. This is printed without his knowledge. C, C. A. 



Society of Middletown Upper Houses, 

INCORPORATED. 



Cromwell, Conn., September i, 1905. 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 

June I, 1905, Cash on hand, -.----.. ^160.52 
September i, 1905, Receipts in order of receipt. 

CHARTER MEMBERSHIP. 

One Dollar Each— Harriet Edna Bailey, Dunkirk, N. Y. ; C. F. Ranney, 
Newport, Vt. ; Mrs. Mary E. White, Springfield, Mass. ; Anna L. Francis, Glen- 
brook, Conn. ; Katherine Brandigee, Berlin, Conn. ; Robert Savage Chase, Lin- 
coln Clifford Cummings, Rosamond Cummings, Henry Savage Chase Cummings, 
William Leveritt Cummings, Brookline, Mass. ; John A. Gaylord, Cuyahoga Falls, 
Ohio; Jonathan Holland, New Hartford, Iowa; Mrs. J. A. Grantier, Forestville, 
N. Y. ; Abbie Knox, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio ; Nellie M. Ranney, Jennie P. 
Ranney, Concord, Vt. ; John H. Eells, Pittsfield, Mass.; W. H. Stephens, Low- 
ville, N. Y. ; Lucy P. Bush, New Haven, Conn. ; A. C. Smith, Livermore, Ky. ; 
Lena Ranney Haven, Florence, Mass. ; Mrs. IL McBurney, Phelps, N. Y. ; Mrs. 
Amasa A. Hull, Warren, Vt. ; Miss C. M. North, Berlin, Conn. ; Mrs. Josephine 
Ranney Walden, Spruce Corners, Mass. ; Edward Willis Ranney, Springfield, 
Mass.; Harriet A. Ranney, R. L. Ranney, J. I. Ranney, Chicago, 111. ; Leland 
Howard Ives, Margery Piatt, Meriden, Conn. ; Anna S. White, Waterbury, 
Conn.; Laura Ranney, Jackson, Mo.; Herbert H. Ranney, Cape Girardeau, 
Mo. ; Dr. F. H. Williams, Frances Hart Williams, Bristol, Conn. ; Theodore 
Anderson, Cromwell, Conn. ........ $37.00 

Two Dollars Each— Charles E. Jackson, Middletown, Conn. ; Mrs. A. 
L. Conger, Akron, Ohio; Florence S. Brandigee, Emily S. Brandigee, Berlin, 
Conn. ; Augusta F. Kingman, Northampton, Mass. ; Georgia Cain, Pittsfield, 
Mass.; George R. Smith, Cromwell, Conn., . . - . . 514.00 

Three Dollars — Mary K. Cutting, Westminster West, Vt , - 3.00 

Four Dollars— John H. Sage, Portland, Conn., - - - 4.00 

Five Dollars Each— Susie E. Ranney, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. ; Alice 
May Ranney, Granville, Mass. ; Fred E. Garrett, Oil City, Penn. ; Lynn A. 
Ranney, Cleveland, O. ; H. H. Ranney, Mohawk, N. v., - - $25.00 



LIFE MEMBERSHIP SINCE JUNE i, 11)05. 

Capt. J. K. Williams, Hartford, Conn , - - - ^25.00 

Miss Ruth Galpin, Herlin, Conn., - - - - 13.00 

Philip Ranney Brooks, Minneapolis, Minn., - - - 10.00 

Mrs. A. S. Hall, Winchester, Mass., . . . . 10.00 

Mrs. Walter C. Faxon, Hartford, Conn., - - - - 10.00 

C. J. Ranney, Cleveland, O, balance, .... 7.00 

Willett G. Ranney, Cleveland, O., balance, - - - 4.00 

Charles H. Stanton, Clinton, N. Y., balance, - 5.00 

Mrs. E. E. Abbott, Clinton, N. Y., balance, ■ - - 5.00 

Miss Maria S. Ranney, Austin, Minn., balance, - - 500 

(She had made two others Life members). 

S94.00 

ADDITIONAL SINCE JUNE i, 1Q05. 

M. C. Treat, . $60.00 

Frank L. Wilcox, - - - - - - - - 60.00 

Rev. M. E. Dwight, 40.00 

Mrs. Lynde Harrison, -.-... 25.00 

Walter G. Eells, - - - - - - - - 10.00 

James J. Goodwin, - - - - - - 10.00 

Edgar J. Doolittle, - - - - - - - 5.00 

S. O. Ranney, ------.- 5.00 

Miss Ellen Chase, -------- 5.00 

R. B. Ranney, ...-..- 3 00 

Dr. Geo. E. Ranney, --....- 2.00 

Lemuel S, Ranney, -------- 2.00 

Mrs. Howard Smith, - - - . - - i.oo 

Elijah C. Ranney, - - - - - - i.oo 

T. O. Bailey, - - - - . . - . 1.00 

Dinner Tickets, - - - - - - - - 24.50 



$254.50 
Total Receipts since June I, 1905, - - - - $585.02 



EXPENDITURES SINCE JUNE i, 1905. 

Postage, J555I-73 

Five Hundred Newspapers, -.---. 5.00 

Photos and Plates, - 14. lo 

"Welcome" Banner, . - - . - 4.00 

Printing, 110.00 

Incorporation, 12.50 

Advertising, -.--.- 2.50 

Catering, 50.60 

Colored Help, lo.oo 

Mount for Mortar, 10.35 

Mounting the same, - - • 5.00 



DEC 



Two Halls, $10.00 

Two Launches, ..-.---- 16.00 

Searching and Copying Records, ----- 17.00 

Boulder, 98-40 

Grading Grounds, 23.C0 

Paid on Tablet (balance due, $35.00). . . . . 110.00 

Conveyances, ..---.-- 34- 5° 

To secure s()eakers' presence, ------ 24.50 

Sundries, ---------- 5.00 

Total paid out, $614.08 

There is due on Tablet, - - . - . . $35.00 

There is due the Treasurer, ------ 29.06 

There is due present, Printing and Postage (1,000), • - 49-5° 

Total due, $113.56 



SPECIAL REQUEST. 

Under the vote of July 19 all who have contributed less than 
$10.00 since June 17, 1903, are recorded as Charter members. There 
are no dues. Each Charter inember is requested on receipt of this to 
send a contribution of one dollar to help pay the present indebted- 
ness. All who become Charter or Life members before January next 
will have their names, addresses and amounts reported in the circular 
to be then sent only to members. The names and addresses, not the 
amounts, of all Charter and Life members on January i, 1906, will be 
printed in " Middletown Upper Houses," to be issued early in 1906. 

' ' He gives twice ivho gives quickly. ' ' 

Respectfully submitted, 

CHARLES COLLARD ADAMS, 

Trec7surer. 
Ckomvvrll, Conn., September i, 1905. 



Mounted Photographs of Memorial as seen on fourth page sent on 
receipt of forty cents by Mrs. Iva Grover, Cromwell, Conn. 



P D la % 




V co\^^.*°o >*\-^:..\ c°*..i;j^.'^°o ,**' 






A' 





-^0^ 





-^0^ 








'oK 









vv 



'^c,- 














^ O^ -o«o' 













,0^ 1*°' > 







r - 1 • 

















'^0^ 



% 



^4K*° ^^'^*^'\ "-^w' -^^ ^^^j* \^^*° ^^^"^^ "^ 



•^ ___ 















^ ^ ' <^ . °^ *<""> fO ">. "^ *V^ ^ 



,0 






.^" 









, ...* ,G^ ^^ •- A <. *'7Vr* ,G^ -, 

OOBBSBROS. ^^,* qO ^ *T7,«* a'^ O '-^ **>- 

IIBRABY BINDING » ^ Ay ^. * ' <V •!* - ^ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



mil II Hill iiMiiiiiiiiiiiiii III 

012 608 850 4 




